10 Things I Do To Save Money – I want to hear what you do, too!
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I just finished a Facebook Live about this and all the kind folks who tuned in thought this would be a good blog post so here we are! Please share your tips in the comments so we can all learn from one another. Below is the video and beneath that is my list.
- When I need to stock my freezer I set aside a week and go to Sam’s club every day when they open to buy what is marked down. I come home, repackage it in foodsaver bags, label, and freeze it. By midweek I usually have a full freezer.
- We eat a LOT of eggs. They are very inexpensive and really good for you. We usually have them for breakfast (if we are eating breakfast that day), and sometimes have them for snacks or even supper. I also make supper dishes with eggs as the main protein.
- Dish towels instead of paper towels. I bought some dish towels at Sam’s Club, great deal, and try to use them instead of paper towels whenever possible. I keep a little swing lid trash can just for dirty dish towels and wash them whenever it gets full.
- Water down the dish soap! Dish soap is really concentrated and we tend to wash a few dishes individually rather than filling up a sink with dish water. So I save my old bottle to divide up a new bottle and add 50% water. Give it a shake and let it settle and you won’t even be able to tell.
- Instead of eating out, whenever we crave something from a restaurant, we purchase two entrees and bring it home and divide it. There is always enough for 4-5 people and we have a LOT by not ordering everyone their own entree in a restaurant.
- Cook and freeze meals for your own homemade fast food!
- When lifestyle and weather permit, I don’t wash my hair every day. This saves 50% or more on hair products, which can be very pricey.
- Poshmark – whenever I want to buy something new such as clothing, shoes, or handbags, I shop around on Poshmark instead of in stores. Sometimes I will even go in stores, find what I want, and then start looking for it on Poshmark. I’m happy to wait until I find it for the price I’m willing to pay. One year, I got my mother over $800 of J.Jill clothing, most with tags attached, for a little over $100 using this app. It’s pretty much Ebay but for people cleaning out their closets. If you sign up and use code SOUTHERNPLATE as a referral you’ll save $10 off your first purchase and I’ll get $10 credit, too.
- Wear clothing twice. Again, this is dependent on lifestyle and weather but I usually wear most things twice. I keep all of my fresh clothes on the right side of my closet and the ones I’ve worn on the left. Then, when I take something off the left side to wear I know it needs to be washed after that. This saves money on laundry and wear and tear on garments as well.
- Youtube for School and learning. We homeschool and it is amazing how many tutorials you can find for different subjects on Youtube. We also recently avoided having to replace our refrigerator by finding a youtube video on how to repair it. I’m currently using an app called Duolingo to learn another language and it’s free as well. The way the app teaches is really connecting and I’m learning at a pace I never thought I could learn at! This is my Duolingo invitation code if you’d like to use it: Learn a language with me for free! Duolingo is fun, and proven to work. https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKTNZ67SGVI4NJRY
Leave your tips and ideas in the comments, we’d love to hear from you and your inspiration can help everyone!
I have found that making my own laundry soap saved money for the years that I was homeschooling, but now I just don’t want to do it. I also use old towels cut in smaller sizes to clean with. We raise our own meat and that saves us a bundle!
I save newspapers, junk mail and the paper scrunched up as padding in packages, then use them to clean up messy spills, wipe out greasy pans, as a base for messy kitchen jobs. Easily stored in neat folded stack.
I use a shampoo bar. One bar will last for MONTHS (quickly foams up), even with long hair washed almost every day.
We’ve saved loads of money since going Keto; I make everything from basic food ingredients. We don’t buy the ‘keto’ products, just eat real, cost-effective and easily obtained meat/dairy/veg/berries from the grocery store, except a little stevia for modest usage. We find we don’t eat as much since the food is so filling and nutrient dense. Also not buying all the flour/grain/starch filled snack foods that are a lot of packaging, empty calories and never fills you up. Me losing 90+ lbs in a year and my husband gong down three sizes were fantastic blessings! 🙂
Some frozen veg and fruit are cheaper than fresh by weight. And won’t go off like fresh will if ‘lost’ in the fridge.
Save bacon grease to cook with. Save the cooking liquid/broth/fat from roasted beef, lamb, chicken, duck, etc. as soup/stew base. Always use the slow cooker for things that need to be cooked for hours.
Always cook two or more meals in the oven at one time, and cook a double batch on the stove top, especially with meats. That way I don’t waste energy heating up the oven or pan each time and it saves time/energy for a few days on our meals. We microwave, warm up quickly in a skillet or eat it cold. If we don’t want to eat those meats/meals again right then, I’ll put it in the freezer for later. No going to the store or take-away for a quick meal. 😉
I cut up old towels to use as rags around the house for cleaning. I also cut them into small rags (different shapes/sizes from the general purpose ones) to use for #1 bathroom visits. 100% cotton can go in the compost pile when too raggedy to use.
I mend our clothes. Hems, buttons, holes in pockets, ripped seams. If clothes get stained, decorate with fabric paint, or use the item as yard work/messy job clothes. Torn clothes/holey socks get darned, maybe an applique or embroidery over it. Broken zippers can be mended as well. Some awesome YouTube videos on mending clothes. Saves loads of money, plus gives great satisfaction.
Learn practical crafts to use as leisure time. Crochet, knit, cross stitch, embroidery, quilting, wood working, card making or whatever can give you hours of soul-filling entertainment while making things for your home, family, friends and charity. You can get supplies cheaply on ebay/etc. (second hand and new) or in sales, or for free if you let it be known that you would like supplies as people give crafts up for various reasons or have items they don’t want any more. Also repurpose things. For instance. you can reuse clothes to make a quilt. And there are tons of free patterns and tutorials online. YouTube is a great resource.
When finishing a jar or bottle of mustard, mayo or other condiment, vinegar swished around uses up the last little bits as salad dressing, or with a bit or water or broth for seasoning while cooking. Also use a silicone spatula to get every little mouthful out of a bowl, pan, jar.
I cut open containers like toothpaste or lotion to get the last bits out. I can get quite a few more uses out of things like this.
Save butter wrappings in the freezer to grease baking pans.
Some frozen veg and fruit are cheaper than fresh by weight.
Sorry for the long comment. I love being thrifty!
I’ve been using Duolingo for years. It’s Amazing!
Thank you for your great posts and inspiration. Have a lovely day!
WOW! You have some fantastic ideas Holly, thank you so much for sharing with us!!!
Wonderful, helpful information! Thank you All!
How timely! I had just replaced my dishwashing liquid. I ran to the trash and got the bottle and am trying this hack! Love it. I use Seventh Generation and its a bit pricey so this will help me save money and that’s what I am all about!